NAME: Evan
DATE: 15-02-16
LOCATION:Paradise Divide Area
ELEVATION: 9000-11000
ASPECT: NE

WEATHER: Pulses of snowfall only added up to a light dusting. Down valley winds were easily blowing this snow around but it all seemed insignificant in the big picture.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Didn’t make it to ridgeline, so traveled on open slopes below treeline. SH was down 20-30cm and popped some nice clean hand shares. The slab above has lost a lot of cohesion in the last weeks and didn’t seem concerning in our area. Crusty snow surfaces on slopes less then 25 degrees and previous wind affected surfaces on sub-ridges that jutted out from the terrain. No signs to instability.

 …

WEATHER: Waves of convective activity throughout the day, periods of S2, less than 3cm of HST. Temps in mid to low 20s all day. Moderate winds above 10,000’, normal, strong down valley wind near parking lot, evidence of active cross-loading on NE – E features.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: HS 80cm to 100cm. Facets on facets, with some facets in the middle. Found a 10cm-thick layer of slightly more cohesive facets about 10 to 20 cm down from surface. Moderate hand sheers resulted in broken blocks. Surface sloughing on slopes over 45º, but they didn’t entrain much more. No signs of instabilities. Or more accurately, no sign of strong snow.…

WEATHER: Sunny, partly cloudy and short period of significant S3 snowfall.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Dug pit on the northern ridge near 2nd bowl, mostly all faceted snowpack.  Saw surface hoar layer 28cm down, was non reactive on a CT test.  Snowpack was 27cm of F over 30cm of 4F with the rest of the lower snowpack being F facets.…

WEATHER: similar to what Donny wrote in his ob, but there was a short period of significant S3 snowfall that accumulated enough to cover the old snow surface.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Solid MF crust found on westerly aspects. Mostly all faceted snowpack found on northerly aspects with no slab evident, and on terrain steeper then 35*, facet sluffing to the ground was evident but slow, and not far running.…

WEATHER: 1000: 36ºF, calm to light wind from north, visibly stronger winds aloft, partly cloudy.  PM:  Snow flurries, short periods of S1, no accumulation, graupel mixed in, cloud band must have been low-elevation because sun could still be felt; moderate wind from the north, no temp recorded, but clearly it cooled somewhat.

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Dug a pit at 10,250’ on a 37º east aspect.  HS 90cm.  No buried SH found.  2mm DH found at base.  Most remarkably the old 12/13 interface had the largest facets – some DH evident.  Had repeatable CTH22 (SC) on this interface.  Top 10cm going through diurnal faceting.  Two, old crowns (D2-R1) still present in “Rental Shop” along with a loose snow slide from the top.  This is not relevant to today’s conditions, but it was a great teaching tool.…

Snowpack / Avalanche Obs: HS ranged from 50-120cms. Buried SH found roughly 20cms below surface and reactive to shovel tilt tests with moderate force and sudden planar fracture character. Not reactive in compression tests, as it would just become embedded in soft snow above upon compression force. Overall snowpack is mostly all facets F-4F hard. Moist and wet snow surfaces on open Northerly slopes. Dry snow holding on in dark timber on Northerlies…

WEATHER: Clear, calm and warm – 35ºF @ 1000 and 47ºF @ 1500

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Traveled in meadow and lower slopes.  Three big whumpfs in meadows.  We could feel the drop and the crack was visible nearly all the way around us.  Ski pen would go from 5-10cm to bottomless trap door conditions.…

WEATHER: Clear, Cool in am. Warm in pm. Overall mostly light to moderate winds from NE

AVALANCHE / SNOWPACK OBS: A recent Wet loose from the ridgeline (probably Tue 10th) on SE @ 12,100 ~40* 2 small collapses along ridgeline (SE & SW @~10*) on thin faceted snow pack covered by wind hardened snow. Skied up to 40* on SE-SW without incident. Below 10,850 on S-SW aspects ~15:00 snow was unsupportive wet facets/DH with ski pen ~20-30cm, boot pen 1/2 way to China. Flats & SE were more supportive…

Weather: Partly cloudy sky in the Washington gulch area with plenty of sun and warm temps to soften snow on sunny slopes. Farther west cloud cover looked overcast. Light winds for the most part.

Snowpack: Wet, gloppy snow surface below 10,000ft on sunny slopes and even some shaded slopes. Higher up the snow surface was cooler and crusts from the last few days where noticeable on slopes that had a more eastern tilt to them. Found buried surface hoar down 40cm below a 1f slab in the starting zone of coneys. Found the SH mid way down the bowl too, about 30cm down. Skied the bowl with many other tracks and still no obvious sings to instability.…